Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, elected on a firebrand populist ticket, is threatening to install a full-fledged authoritarian regime in response to rising criticism of his policies, including a lethal drug war that has cost thousands of lives. Demonstrators stormed Mendiola Street, Manila, on Thursday, urging Duterte to declare a revolutionary government. Their rationale for this move: the country needs to start anew, given a so-called ‘failed system’ that can only be cured by ‘extraordinary measures’. Duterte can set up a revolutionary government but a declaration would mean “throwing out any semblance of constitutionality,” according to political science professor Aries Arugay.